Dolphins' most realistic hope for drafting TE might be in later rounds

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel | Feb 26

The consensus opinion says there are three tight ends in this draft that have the size, hands and skills necessary to excel in today's pass-happy NFL — Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert, Stanford's Zach Ertz and San Diego State's Gavin Escobar.

For years the Dolphins have badly needed a tight end that can run the seam route, be a red zone threat and create mismatches.

But if Miami wants Eifert (6-foot-5, 250), Ertz (6-5, 249) or Escobar (6-6, 254) it might have to over-draft and Eifert or Ertz at No. 12 in the first round, trade down to later in the first round, or hope they can get Escobar in the second round with either the No. 42 or 54 picks.

Right now, only Escobar seems plausible and that might be over-drafting. Most likely, if the Dolphins draft a tight end it would be in the third round or later, which could mean he needs lots of polish to fit Miami's need.

"I like the tight ends," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said, "but there is a dropoff after three, so you could see a little bit of a run. A team wants a tight end, they want to make sure they're in that top three."